Y. Mallikarjun
HYDERABAD: As part of developmental tests, the flight trial of Astra, Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM), was successfully carried out by scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation recently at Balasore, Orissa.

DRDO sources told The Hindu here on Thursday that the missile’s dual mode guidance was fully proved when it was fired from the ground at an imaginary target.

Astra is a high-end tactical missile and is envisaged to intercept enemy aircraft at supersonic speeds in head-on mode at a range of 80 km and in tail-chase mode at 20 km.

Once the full-fledged flight test is completed, the missile will be integrated with the IAF’s Sukhoi-30, MiG-29 and the Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas).

India Tuesday successfully tested the nuclear capable Agni-II missile from a defence base in Orissa, official sources said. The surface-to-surface missile with a range of over 2,000 km was test fired from the Wheeler’s Island near Dhamara in the district of Bhadrak, some 150 km from here at 10.06 a.m.

Test-fired for the second time in four days, the multi-target missile was fired from a mobile launcher at about 11.57 am (IST), DRDO sources said.
The missile was last test-fired from the ITR on November 26.

Akash was aimed at a target attached to Lakshya, the pilotless target aircraft which was test-flown from the ITR about 25 minutes earlier.

The missile, which has a range of 27 km, uses an integral ramjet rocket propulsion system and has a low reaction time.

With a 700 kg launch weight, Akash can carry a warhead of 60 kg and operates in conjunction with the Rajendra surveillance and engagement radar being developed by the Electronic Research and Development Establishment.

The missile, part of the country's Guided Missile Development Programme, is being developed by the DRDO and had undergone a number of trials.

Earlier Pakistan on Monday successfully test-fired indigenously developed short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile Hatf-III, Ghaznavi. This was the third test of Ghaznavi missile which like other available Pakistan's missiles, is capable of carrying nuclear and other types of warheads to a range of 290 kilometres.

The test was a part of a series of tests planned to be conducted in order to verify certain parameters and to further refine different sub-systems of the missile, a press release said.

The flight data collected indicates that all design parameters had been successfully validated, it said. Neighbouring countries had been informed prior to carrying out the test, it added.

NEW DELHI (AFP) — India on Friday successfully launched a ballistic missile in the second such trial of the nuclear-capable weapon in a month, the defence ministry said.

The Agni-II missile blasted off from a testing site in eastern India and "achieved all its flight parameters without hitch," a senior ministry official told AFP.

"It was a user trial conducted by the army and defence scientists," he said of the rocket, which the military says is capable of hitting targets deep inside adjoining China.

The test was the second since May 19 when a similar 2,500-kilometre (1,560-mile) range Agni-II was fired from the same site, hitting a pre-designated target in the Bay of Bengal.

The Indian-developed 20-metre-long missile weighs 16 tonnes and is capable of carrying one tonne of conventional or nuclear warheads.

Friday's trial, part of the nation's efforts to build a credible minimum nuclear deterrent, paves the way for the missile's mass production and eventual induction by the Indian army, the official said.

India already has the 3,000-kilometre range Agni-III missile -- the longest in the Agni series -- which can also carry conventional or nuclear payloads.
Unconfirmed reports suggest India is also building an Agni variant with a range of 5,000 kilometres.

The Agni (Fire) is one of a series being developed by India's Defence Research Development Organisation as part of the country's deterrent strategy against China and neighbouring Pakistan, which also have nuclear weapons.

NEW DELHI: After basing Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets in the North-East, India is now all set to conduct another test of the 3,500-km-range Agni-III ballistic missile next month.

"Agni-III, a 16.7-metre tall missile with a lift-off weight of 50 tonnes, should be tested within a month, towards end-July. This will be another step towards inducting it into the armed forces,'' said top defence sources on Friday.

Once fully-ready by 2011-2012, Agni-III will provide India with the capability to strike deep into China, with cities like Shanghai and Beijing well within its potent reach.

India, incidentally, is also working on the 5,000-km-range Agni-V missile, which will have near-ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) capabilities, but it will be ready for its first test only by late-2010.

Asked about the Agni-V on Friday, defence minister A K Antony only said the government was taking "all steps'' to build "whatever capabilities'' were needed "as per changing threat perceptions'' to protect national security.

Both Agni-III and Agni-V are primarily designed to bolster India's "active credible deterrence posture'' against China, especially since it has a clear-cut "no-first use'' nuclear doctrine.

China's expanding nuclear and missile arsenal, of course, has even the US worried. The Chinese DF-31A ICBM, with a strike range of 11,270 km, for instance, can target any location in the continental US.

India's missile programme is rudimentary by these standards, and even lags behind Pakistan in certain aspects. In fact, only the Prithvi (150-350 km) and Agni-I (700-km) missiles, primarily meant for Pakistan, can be said to be fully operational in the armed forces till now.

The tri-Service Strategic Forces Command is still engaged in conducting "training user-trials'' of the 2,000-km Agni-II. The first such Agni-II trial last month "failed to meet the laid-down flight parameters'', say sources.

But defence scientists say they are not deterred by a flop or two. The first test of the rail-mobile Agni-III in July 2006 had flopped miserably, spurring them to ensure the second one in April 2007 and the third one in May 2008 were successful.

As for India's most ambitious missile till now, the Agni-V, the scientists are incorporating a third composite stage in the two-stage Agni-III, along with some advanced technologies like ring laser gyroscope and accelerator for navigation and guidance.

They want the solid-fuelled Agni-V, for which the government has sanctioned around Rs 2,500 crore, to be a canister-launch missile system to ensure it has the requisite operational flexibility to be fired from any part of the country.

HYDERABAD: The hit-to-kill capability of the third generation anti-tank Nag missile was proved once again with the Army, successfully completing the second phase of final user trials in Rajasthan and paving the way for early induction of the system. While extensive transportation trials were carried out on July 31 and August 1, three missiles were fired on August 2 against fixed and moving targets by the Army team. Based on the feedback provided by the Army following previous user trials, the system was made more rugged to suit its requirements.

Defence Research and Development Organisation officials said here on Tuesday that the missile “conclusively established” its K-Kill efficacy (capability to kill) as a stationary derelict tank was heavily damaged in each of the two trials carried out against fixed targets. Potent tandem warheads pierced through the armoury of the tanks and proved their lethality. The third trial was conducted against a moving rail-based target which was developed by the Army. All the trials were of shorter range, varying from 800 metres to 1400 metres, as desired by the user. The production of the all-weather system with fire-and-forget capability was expected to begin soon by Bharat Dynamics Limited.

The Indian Agni-III intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) is scheduled to undergo its fourth and final development-phase test-firing in October this year. The last test of the missile was over a year ago on May 7 last year (see photo). Scientists at the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL). Significantly, according to sources, this will be the final trial of the Agni-III's development phase. Next year, the ASL and Integrated Test Range (ITR) will make a full effort to conduct two sets of user trials. Godspeed to ASL Director Avinash Chander and his team.

BY : PTI
The faster air version of the successful supersonic BrahMos cruise missile is being readied for tests on the Sukhoi-30 jets
and the weapon is expected to be formally inducted into the Indian Air (IAF) by 2012, a top official said.
A final shape to the hypersonic missile BrahMos-II project being executed by the Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace would emerge shortly, the company CEO and Managing Director A Sivathanu Pillai told reporters.
Project authorities are awaiting the modified Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft that would be fitted with the sophisticated missile which can travel at speeds between Mach 5 and Mach 7. (Mach 1, which is the speed of sound, is equal to roughly 1,200 km per hour).
After being fitted on an aircraft, BrahMos-II will be the only cruise missile with the capability of being launched from land, sea and air, Pillai said.
The design team had already been lined up and discussions would be held shortly between the joint venture partners on investments, sharing of technical responsibilities, administration and sharing of manufacturing facility infrastructure, he said.
On the new version of BrahMos, Pillai said the preliminary exercise for its induction into the IAF is already on.
The design and development of this version had been fruitful and the advanced missile, which weighs 0.5 tonne less than that of the three-tonne land version BrahMos, was ready.
BrahMos, which has a capability of carrying 300 kg conventional warheads at a speed of around 2.8 Mach, has already been inducted into the Army and the Navy.
Pillai said he was hopeful that the target for induction of the air version set for 2012 would be achieved.Air version of Brahmos readied for tests on Sukhoi jets: Official IDRW.ORG

Balasore: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is all set to test a variety of long-range and short-range missiles sometime over the next two months. The missiles will include the short-range Prithvi, the medium-range Agni, the supersonic BrahMos and the land variant of the K-15 missiles.

While the Prithvi and Agni-II missiles are expected to be tested first in October, the BrahMos and the land variant of the K-15, dubbed the Shaurya, will be test fired sometime in November.

In a flurry of activity, the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, Balasore in Orissa will also have hosted a three-day target simulation exercise for the Indian Air Force from Monday, involving the use of the Pilotless Target Aircraft (PTA).

According to sources, the DRDO is leaving no stone unturned for a successful outcome to these trials as they are a critical part of the country's nuclear and conventional missile arsenal.

All tests are going to be user trials with particular focus on the Agni-II and the K-15 Shaurya missiles.

"The four missiles had already been tested successfully from the ITR. Those have already been inducted in the Indian army, with the exception of K-15. The fresh trials are intended to gauge the accuracy of these missiles that will be tested with some new technologies," a defence scientist said.

The previous user trial of the Agni-II on 19 May had not been a success, and so scientists are determined to make it a complete success this time round.

While the Prithvi, BrahMos and K-15 will be test fired from the ITR at Chandipur, the Agni-II missiles will be tested from the Wheelers' Island, off the Dhamara coast in Bhadrak district.

The Prithvi has a strike range of 150 km with a payload of 1,000 kg, but has a larger reach with a reduced payload.

The Agni-II has a range in the region of 3,000 km with a payload of 1,000 kg. It was inducted in the Army in 2004.

The supersonic BrahMos can be launched from ships, silos and road and rail mobile launchers and has a strike range of 290 km with a conventional warhead weighing 300 kg.

India's highly sophisticated and nuclear capable short range ballistic missile (SRBM) "Prithvi-2" is likely to be test-fired today from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur.

"The test will be part of the user's trial. It will be conducted by a special contingent raised by the Indian army", sources in Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said.

"Range preparation in the ITR complex has reached the final stage for the trial and if everything proceeds in the right direction, the exercise would be carried out today", the sources said.

"Prithvi-2 missile is single stage liquid propelled and is equipped with inertial navigation system. The missile is about 9 metre in length and 1 metre in width. The missile can carry conventional or nuclear warheads.

With an extended range of 350 km, the state-of-the-art surface-to-surface Prithvi missile has already been inducted into the armed forces.

The last trial of 'Prithvi-2' was conducted on April 15, this year from the ITR at Chandipur.

Balasore (Orissa), Oct 12 (PTI) India Monday successfully testfired in quick succession two nuclear-capable 'Prithvi-II' surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 350 km from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, about 15 km from Balasore in India's eastern state of Orissa.

The two indigenously developed missiles were test fired successfully at 10:28 AM IST and 10:33 AM IST, from mobile launchers as part of user trials by the army, defence sources said.

The trajectories of the missiles were tracked by a battery of long-range, multi-function radars and electro-optic telemetry stations at different locations for post-launch analysis, the sources said.

Scientists of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) supervised the test-firing with logistic support from the ITR personnel here. Naval ships were anchored near the impact points in the Bay of Bengal.

India Monday successfully testfired in quick succession two nuclear-capable 'Prithvi-II' surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 350 km from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, about 15 km from Balasore in India's eastern state of Orissa.

The two indigenously developed missiles were test fired successfully at 10:28 AM IST and 10:33 AM IST, from mobile launchers as part of user trials by the army, defence sources said.

The trajectories of the missiles were tracked by a battery of long-range, multi-function radars and electro-optic telemetry stations at different locations for post-launch analysis, the sources said.

Scientists of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) supervised the test-firing with logistic support from the ITR personnel here. Naval ships were anchored near the impact points in the Bay of Bengal.

For the first time, the armed forces on Monday successfully tested two nuclear capable Prithvi-II missiles in quick succession from two mobile launchers stationed at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur-on-Sea. The missiles were launched at about 10.30 am and 10.33 am.“Though earlier we had tested Prithvi in salvo mode, for the first time it was test-fired one after another in quick succession. The two missiles aimed at two different targets at 350 km from the launch point and met all the mission objectives. It was a copybook success,’’ said ITR Director S P Dash.The tests, he explained, were conducted as part of the operational exercises. Two naval ships, located at the impact points, tracked and monitored both the missiles hitting the targets accurately. All the radars and other sensors along the east coast also monitored the missiles trajectory parameters, Dash pointed out. Defence sources said it was a test from the limited stock production (LSP) series. “The missiles used for the test were picked up randomly from the assembly line after production and were launched with inertial navigation system,” the sources added.Prithvi, the first missile developed under Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), has the capability to carry 500 kg warhead. The tests were carried out by the Strategic Force Command. The officials said the user-trial was necessary to make the weapon fully operational. Prithvi II is also used by the Indian Air Force. It carries only small payloads, they added.

October 19, 2009, (Sawf News) - DRDO plans to test an improved version of its AAD endo-atmospheric interceptor missile towards the end of the year.

The Advanced Air Defense (AAD) interceptor has so far been successfully tested up to an altitude of 15 kms. In the new test the interceptor will "kill" an incoming target missile at 30 km to validate the efficacy of the missile in its entire endo-atmospheric envelope.

The new AAD interceptor will feature improved maneuverability at altitudes approaching 30km, where the air is thinner.

The AAD interceptor has also been equipped with a P-charge [projectile charge] warhead that can penetrate thick steel and cause damage with a high hit [repeat hit] density.

"That means the number of holes you create per unit area is very high," a DROD official told the press.